The potential for a Canadian anthropology; Diamond Jenness's Arctic ethnography
Date
2002
Authors
Hancock, Robert Lorne Alexander
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Abstract
Diamond Jenness (1886-1969) was an important figure in the development of professional anthropology in Canada. However, the theoretical content of his ethnographic publications has not been fully recognised. Drawing from both his fieldwork diaries and his published ethnographies on the Arctic, this thesis attempts to understand Jenness in context. This context is constructed through an examination of the following: the influence of his anthropological mentor, R. R. Marett; the significance of his early fieldwork in Papua New Guinea; and an analysis of his exposure to the then-current anthropological innovations, including Bronislaw Malinowski's discussion of fieldwork methods, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown's contributions to the development of functionalist theory, and Franz Boas and Edward Sapir's development of the Americanist theoretical paradigm. This thesis concludes that when compared to these contemporary developments in the discipline, Jenness's Arctic work appears outdated, particularly in its reliance on an evolutionist framework rejected by each of these three new approaches. As such, while his approach was distinctive it was not a viable source for a uniquely Canadian anthropology.